Diced Cartilage Fascia (DCF)

Some patients come to us with a flat or collapsed nose, and want the bridge of their nose built up. Certain ethnic groups have a relatively “low” bridge and commonly seek out ways to augment the dorsum so that they have a stronger or more “Western” profile.

Diced cartilage fascia is a technique that can be used to augment the bridge of the nose. In this technique, septal, ear or rib cartilage is chopped up into very small pieces. This diced cartilage is then placed inside a small pouch made from temporalis fascia, which is tissue harvested from the temple region through a small incision. The pouch, or “burrito” as we sometimes call it, is sewn shut and placed on the bridge of the nose under the skin. We prefer this technique to artificial silicone or medpore nasal implants, because these implants can be rejected by the body, or get infected. As you can see in the picture, the diced cartilage fascia is very similar in shape to a silicone nasal implant. The advantage is that the diced cartilage fascia is a patient’s own tissue, will never be rejected, has a low risk of infection, and does not resorb.

This is an example of a nasal implant that became infected and eroded through the skin.

The left photo is an example of a nose after removal of an infected nasal implant. The right photo is after a diced cartilage fascia “burrito” was placed to rebuild a collapsed nasal bridge.

This is a picture of a silicone nasal implant that has been removed from the nose, and a diced cartilage fascia “burrito” that has been built to replace it.

To make the diced cartilage fascia “burrito,” first cartilage is chopped into very small pieces and placed into a small syringe. Temporalis fascia is harvested and used to make a small pouch to hold the diced cartilage. The diced cartilage is then injected into the pouch and sewn shut.